Gore needed a bold Veep move--and got it. Is it a turning point or just a nice moment?

As Al Gore winnowed his list of prospective running mates last month, at least one prominent Democrat was less than thrilled with the idea that Joe Lieberman might get the nod. Bill Clinton praised the choice after it was made, but before the fact, he railed privately about how much Lieberman's latest book, In Praise of Public Life, ticked him off. ("The Clinton-Lewinsky saga," Lieberman writes, "is the most vivid example we have of the virus of lost standards.") Clinton told friends he was sick and tired of Lieberman's sanctimony. The Senator's famous 1998 speech condemning Clinton's behavior was one thing,...